Theodore Roosevelt

Foreign Affairs
The beginnings of the American Empire started to take place around the time Roosevelt was president.
At the end of the Spanish-American War, Spain had given up the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam, and
Cuba, and the U.S had recently annexed Hawaii. Like McKinley, Roosevelt wanted America to expand
past its isolationist policies and become more involved in world affairs. Roosevelt remembered the
trials the U.S had to go through in order to reach South America during the war, so he wanted a
shortcut to be made. Enter the Panama Canal; a man made canal that would provide said shortcut. The
Colombian government didn't approve, so the U.S supported a Panamanian revolt against the
government, and with a grand total of $400 million dollars a huge technical marvel took place.
Roosevelt watching the production of the Canal made him the first president to leave the country
during office. The president also added to the Monroe Doctrine with the Roosevelt Corollary, which
stated that no European nation could get involved in the Americas, and that he U.S would involve itself
in any Latin American affairs if need be. Roosevelt was also known as a peacemaker by stopping
disputes over many nations, such as France and Germany, and Russia and Japan.

Domestic Affairs
Roosevelt's domestic affairs were marked heavily with his progressive views. He was heavy on the
regulation of many of the companies that enjoyed the spoils of the unregulated capitalist system that the
country had enjoyed during the Gilded Age such as J.P Morgan and many railroad companies. The
Elkins Act was an attempt to further said regulation, but he felt it was a failure. The Hepburn Act was
the first time a president appealed directly to the people, which was done by Roosevelt due to the
backlash he was experiencing in congress. Roosevelt also attempted to quell problems with coal
companies, as there was a strike going on between workers and the company owners. Roosevelt
brought both sides to the White House and attempted to make things fair for everything. His domestic
policy took this overall approach of fairness and was called the Square Deal, which started the trend of
President's naming their domestic policies. He was also the nations first conservationist president, with
him always preaching the need for woodlands and mountain ranges. With much establishment of laws
and bureaus towards this idea, Roosevelt ended up creating 5 national parks, 18 national monuments,
and 51 wildlife refuges. Roosevelt also pushed for the U.S to have a huge navy, the strongest in the
world. Roosevelt was the first president to use the media to connect directly to the people, even taking
the words of the muckrakers (investigative journalists) close to heart and working based off of what
they wrote. Despite progress in many fields, Roosevelt was still reflective of the racist views of his
time. He believed whites were superior, despite close work with many blacks, and even went as far as
to dishonorably discharge 3 black soldiers without trial.

William Howard Taft

Foreign Affairs
Taft attempted to increase U.S foreign trade to a point that his predecessors couldn't. His dollar
diplomacy was a tactic to get other countries to invest in the United States. He would have officials
and the army be used to promote the U.S and to get South America and the Far East to invest. He didn't
completely reach his goal, with Chinese investment actually diminishing under his rule as president.
South American countries didn't like him attempting to profit off of them, and due to U.S interference
in the area actually created the Pan American Conference. Taft was about to interfere in war torn
Mexico so as to help their investment, but decided not to and thus earned the nickname Peaceful Bill.

Domestic Affairs
Taft's domestic policies seemed like a strange mix of Roosevelt's and his own, which lead to many
mixed feelings when looking back. He added more power to the Interstate Commerce Commission,
even expanding their regulatory power to telephones and other more communication forms. He also
attempted to bring down an extreme amount (99) of trusts during his time. Yet, he tried breaking up U.S
steel, with Roosevelt telling him that he didn't know the difference between a good and bad trust. He
also got in bed with many conservative business owners. He tried being a man of the people by
adding more jobs to the navy, but rejected Arizona and New Mexico's attempts at statehood and was
hesitant towards the direct election of senators. He allowed the income tax amendment to get passed,
yet signed off a high tariff bill that actually helped trusts. He caused a hug rift between himself and his
friend Roosevelt by dismissing many of his conservation efforts.

Woodrow Wilson
Foreign Affairs
Wilson attempted to give more autonomy for the Latin American countries. He promised to give them
more freedom as long as they kept a democratic country, which caused difficulty with Haiti even with
the independence granted to the Philippines and territory status of Puerto Rico. He eventually practiced
an old form of imperialism by buying the Virgin Islands. U.S relations with Mexico were extremely
tough, with Wilson encouraging much anti-Huerta efforts, and eventually went on a campaign against
Pancho Villa, without permission from Congress. The tensions stayed high, and with the publication of
the Zimmerman Telegraph, which stated that if Mexico helped Germany in WWI that they would help
Mexico gain its old land from the U.S, solidified the U.S intervening in the war. Wilson attempted to
talk with leaders from Mexico to ease tensions. Wilson wanted to stay neutral in WWI due to many
American immigrants having been born in many of the countries that were at war and by maintaining
good relations After U-bombs by Germany attacking ships and the public launch of the Zimmerman
Telegraph, the U.S had to get involved. The Selective Services Act came into play with 2.8 million men
drafted. African Americans were allowed to serve, while women weren't allowed to. They came in at a
time in which the Allied forces extremely needed reinforcements. Wilson, after the end of the WWI,
outlined his idea of the end of imperial order and rule and mass democracy being spread across the
nation. In his 14 Points he called for an international order to maintain said democracy. He helped
found the League of Nations, but was met with much home front opposition, leading to the U.S not
joining the League and its eventual dissolution.

Domestic Affairs
Wilson made the largest amount of reforms of any president till FDR. His progressive policies came to
a front and started the idea of an activist president. His New Freedom, which was a joint conference
with Congress, made reforms on taxes, tariffs, banking, and labor. He instituted the Federal Reserve to
make the bank more responsive to the economy, made the first child labor laws, lowered the workday
to 8hours a day, lowered high tariffs that made the cost of living hard for working and middle class
families, reinforced the Clayton-Antitrust Act which kept competition in capitalism alive and protected
unions. He appointed Louis Brandeis, which was the first Jewish American to be a part of the U.S
Supreme Court. He instituted the first income tax for the wealthy to pay their fair share of the burden.
He was a big advocate for immigration rights and vetoed many anti-immigrant laws, claiming that we
were a nation of immigrants. He had many contradictions in his policies, claiming that he wanted to
expand democracy, but kept the Jim Crow laws that segregated minorities. He was large advancing
progressive policies, but held off and advancing woman's suffrage.